Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Dambusters plaque theft on raid’s 75th
VANDALS have stolen a plaque from a Dambusters memorial on the 75th anniversary of the RAF raid.
The tribute to Flt Sgt John Fraser had been unveiled in the presence of his wife Doris, 94, and daughter Shere.
Before joining the Dambusters squadron the Canadian was based at RAF Finningley in Doncaster, where he met Doris.
The stone memorial was erected in the town’s Elmfield Park in 2003.
Shere, 62, was visiting from Canada, where she and her mum now live, for the anniversary when she saw the plaque had gone.
She said: “It made me so sad. It’s irreplaceable to us.”
Mr Fraser survived a crash in the 1943 raid but died in 1962. The council is looking at replacing the plaque in the near future. A LANDMARK report on building safety in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire has been branded a “betrayal and a whitewash”.
The review was blasted for failing to call for a ban on combustible cladding.
Releasing her findings, Dame Judith Hackitt said yesterday: “I’m not an expert on Grenfell.”
The Hackitt report has recommended a “fundamental change” to the way tower block construction is regulated.
It also calls for unlimited fines and jail sentences for those who put residents in danger by breaking rules.
Responding to the report, Housing Secretary James Brokenshire committed to a on banning flammable cladding on high-rises.
But Shadow Housing Secretary John Healey said: “Don’t consult on it – ban it.”
The flammable cladding on Grenfell Tower is believed to have been a major reason why the flames spread so quickly.
The fire at the block of flats in Kensington, West London, last June killed 71 people.
Labour’s David Lammy said: “This review is a betrayal and a whitewash. It is unthinkable and unacceptable that so many people can die in a disaster like Grenfell and, one year on, flammable cladding has not been banned... The public needed a review that was fearless in standing up to the industry on behalf of all those who lost their lives in Grenfell, with recommendations that ensure an atrocity like Grenfell can never happen again.”
The Hackitt report, which was commissioned by the Government, has also failed to recommend the banning of desktop studies which approve materials without setting fire to them.
Dame Judith said the Grenfell cladding would not have got through her propconsultation osed system. She added: “I’ve tried to fix the system regardless of [the] problem.” She told MPS last night: “Banning things is no guarantee people [won’t] use them.”
The Royal Institute of British Architects said the report was a “missed opportunity” to make buildings safer.
Its president Ben Derbyshire said: “We are extremely concerned it has failed to act on the urgent need to immediately protect [people’s lives] through a more detailed programme of... improved regulations.”
CONDEMNS THE HACKITT REPORT